Battle Lines - Average, Based on 2 Critics

Pitchfork - 56Based on rating 5.6/10

56

The band Bob Moses sounds remarkably like Coldplay on Battle Lines, from the soaring vocal melodies to the stately piano chords to the overall air of slightly apologetic celebration. Most of all, though, Bob Moses sound like Coldplay because singer Tom Howie sounds like Chris Martin. The resemblance is there in Howie's hushed vocal tone, his tendency to reach for the falsetto and only just arrive, and the way he stretches out his words like a politely howling coyote, so that "insanity" becomes "insanity-y-y," the last syllable tugged along by vast slabs of singalong phrasing.

There are not many artists who have been invited to perform on both The Ellen DeGeneres Show and for the Robot Heart collective at Burning Man. But for Bob Moses, one of dance music's biggest crossover acts of the past few years, both appearances made sense. The Vancouver-born duo began making music together in Brooklyn in 2012, and their work quickly found favour.